RNC Forecast: Convention With a Chance of Chaos

Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Mitt Romney is likely to officially become the GOP’s presidential nominee on the first day of the Republican National Convention next week.

And although it looks like Tampa could get drenched on Monday as the delegates gather for the roll call vote selecting Romney and running mate Paul Ryan, it appears as if the city will avoid the brunt of the giant storm that is currently swirling over the Caribbean.

Plans for Romney’s early nomination, which were released by the RNC on Monday, have nothing to do with the storm, according to campaign officials.

But there may be several storms of a different sort in Romney’s path.

For one, Ann Romney’s appearance in Tampa is still fluid, ABC’s David Muir reports. With television networks balking at broadcasting her planned speech live on Monday night, her slot could be moved to Tuesday. But that’s not a done deal.

Campaign sources tell Muir that Romney himself is still scheduled to speak on Thursday — as has been the plan all along. On Monday Romney is poised to cross the 1,144 delegate threshold for the nomination just as the network evening newscasts are starting. That magic number also allows the Romney campaign to get their hands on general election funds before the governor’s arrival in Tampa.

But, as ABC’s Jonathan Karl notes, there have also been concerns that supporters of former Romney rival, Ron Paul, are planning to create a stir on the convention floor. Paul and his acolytes are holding separate events during the convention week.

Potential disruptions by Paul’s supporters are among the “sideshows” (as Obama campaign officials are calling them) that could create some unwanted drama for the Romney campaign.

“I think it’s pretty great that we’re totally unified, that we’ve got everybody on board, everybody happy,” Priebus said. “I can tell you, all week we’ve been spending a lot of good times with the Ron Paul folks and their campaign, having a good time even in our meetings where we’ve had some disagreements, but for the most part everybody sees eye to eye on the most important issues facing America.”